Israel's population hits 7.5 million

Includes 5.7 million Jews, 1.5 million Arabs; yearly growth rate 1.8%.

By RUTH EGLASH
Independence Day Crowd 311 (photo credit: Ariel Jerozolimski)
Independence Day Crowd 311
(photo credit: Ariel Jerozolimski)
On the eve of its 62nd Independence Day, Israel has nearly 7.59 million people and is growing at a rate of 1.8 percent per year, according to figures released Sunday by the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS).
Published ahead of Yom Ha’atzmaut, which begins Monday evening, some 75.5 percent of the total population,  5,726,000 people, is Jewish, while the Arab population has reached 1,548,000 (20.4%) and those not identified as either make up 4.1% of the population, or 313,000 people.
Since Independence Day last year, 159,000 babies were born in Israel while 37,000 people passed away. Close to 16,000 new immigrants arrived over the past year, with an additional 9,000 ex-pat Israelis returning home.
The majority of the population – 70% – are sabras (Israeli-born) and most are them are the second generation in Israel. This is compared to 1948, when only 35% of Israelis had been here.
While in 1948 only one city, Tel Aviv, boasted 100,000 residents, in 2010 some 14 cities have that many, and six cities have more than 200,000: Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Haifa, Rishon Lezion, Ashdod and Petah Tikva.
According to a CBS report released before Rosh Hashana last September, Israel is still a fairly young nation, with nearly 30% of its population under the age of 14, compared to 17% in most other Western countries.
Only 10% of the population is over the age of 65, whereas in other Western countries the average is closer to 15%.
CBS figures show that the average Jewish family size has increased, from 2.8 children per household in 2008 to 2.96 in 2009.
In the Muslim community, the average number of children per mother was3.84 in 2009, a fall from the previous two years when it had reached3.97 children per household. Among Christian families the averagenumber of children was down to 2.11 in 2008.
The ratio of men towomen in Israel continues to be consistent too, with women stillslightly outnumbering the men, especially later in life.
Accordingto the statistics, there are 979 men for every 1,000 women. In theunder-37 set there are actually more men, but in the over-75 age groupthis is offset by some 673 men for every 1,000 women.